Dancing Stage Mega Mix Review PS2

Dancing Stage MegaMix is the first of the rhythm dancing games to hit the Playstation 2. Dancing Stage Party Edition for the PSOne has been a massive hit and it is still going strong. Now you get pretty much the same game on the newer Sony console. The end result is that this review won't provide any shocks but it will inform PS2 owners and hopefully help you make a decision on whether to buy this game and the all important dance mat.

Essentially the Dancing Stage games are a glorified version of Simon Says; it just adds music and feet to the equation. If you haven't seen any of these dancing machines in the arcades I will give you a quick idea of what the game is all about. You stand on a mat which has four arrows one it, up, down, left and right. The game starts and music will play, on the screen you will see a series of arrows appear in all sorts of various combinations, you have to press the buttons on the mat and copy the sequence of the arrows that appear on the screen. Basically the end result is that you will look like a complete muppet jumping up and down in the middle of a room full of people. As you progress the moves will become increasingly challenging.

Anyway, you have a good idea of what that game is all about now, but you should not buy this game unless you have or you are going to buy the mat. This game needs the mat to provide its thrills, otherwise you will be playing a version of Simon Says with your thumbs. There is another bonus to this relatively simple

game; if you are lazy like myself and never do any exercise apart from walking to your car in the morning and then walking from your car through the office doors this game will sort you out. You will be absolutely knackered after a couple of levels. If this is the main reason for buying this game, which I doubt, there is a calorie counter which looks back over the games history and works out how many calories you have burnt.

The music in the game is generally from the dance genre with tracks such as, Elvis vs JXL "A little less conversation" and Sugar Babes "Freak like me". If your not keen on the whole dance genre like myself your not going to find the music the highlight of the game, but all the tracks serve their purpose very well and to be honest it is the only music that could suit a game of this type. Saying that though, there are a couple of odd balls thrown in such as the Cure's "The love cats" which doesn't really fit in at all.

With a game such as Dancing Stage MegaMix there isn't too much more you can do to improve it. Since Dancing Stage Party Mix for the PSOne Konami have added more tracks, licensed bigger tunes and improved the background graphics as well as the front end graphics. Apart from that there isn't much more that can be done to improve the genre, unless someone comes up with a completely radical idea for the next installment the Dancing Stage series will always be some what similar.

That is about it, Dancing Stage MegaMix does exactly what it says on the tin, so if you have a dance mat it is probably worth getting your hands on a copy of this game, just think about it, it is probably one of the most fun ways to get some exercise done, and you can look a complete muppet in the comfort of your own home instead of a huge crowd down at the local arcade. As far as the dance genre goes, Konami are the kings and fans of the arcade will be able to get there fix of energetic game play anytime they feel like it. But be warned, if you don't have a dance mat and you don't intend on getting one you should not buy this game. For everyone else, go and get yourself a copy today.